Attorneys

If you have considered being an attorney, here are some facts for you.

 

Education-How do you become an attorney?

• First achieve an undergraduate/bachelor's degree. This degree does not have to be in a particular major; in fact, some say it's wise to choose a major you are passionate about in case you do not wind up being an attorney after all. Knowing a second language can always help as well. 

An exception to this is if you choose to practice property law. In that case, your major must be science-related such as Computer Science, Engineering, Math, or Biology.

• Next, pass the LSAT, the exam to be admitted into the law school of your choice.
• Once you have completed law school, you're granted a J.D. (Juris Doctor) degree. Law school can take up to 3 years to complete.
• You must then pass the MPRE, the Multistate Professional Responsibilty Exam
• The next step is to pass your bar exam. This is a difficult exam; on average, 70% of applicants pass it the first time. In order to be an attorney, you must pass the bar exam.

Here is the University of Minnesota pre-law website: https://www.law.umn.edu/admissions/minnesota-pre-law-scholars-mpls-program
University of St Thomas: https://www.stthomas.edu/law/
Mitchell Hamline:  https://mitchellhamline.edu/

What's the difference between a lawyer and an attorney? Most people use the term interchangeably, although technically, a 'lawyer' is someone who is educated in law, but an 'attorney' has achieved his or her J.D. and passed the bar exam, so is qualified to give advice on legal matters.

Not every attorney practices courtroom or trial law. There are a large number of specialties in law:

• Corporate law, or In-House Counselor, for a company
• Civil Rights
• Personal Injury
• Probate (these attorneys handle the legal matters of deceased people for their families)
• Public Defender (an attorney assigned to defend someone accused of a crime when the accused cannot afford to pay his or her own attorney)
• Criminal Prosecutor
• Worker's Comp attorney
• Family Court (dealing with divorce and the welfare of children)
• Lobbyist (one who promotes a cause)
• Drafting legislation (you would write new laws)
• Law professor
• Bankruptcy attorney
• Working for a non-profit organization
• Judge
• Attorney for a government agency
• Patent attorney: If you have an invention and need to see if it's been invented already, and if not, to protect your rights to produce the product
• Trademark law
• Entertainment industry, involving contracts, copyrights, and liability issues
• Medical attorney: for example, who holds the rights to frozen embryos if the donors don't?
• Internet law: What constitutes an invasion of privacy online? What rights to people retain to things they've shared online?
• Advertising law

A good amount of information about becoming an attorney can be found here:  http://legalcareerpath.com/becoming-an-attorney/

You may be interested to read about the Innocence Project. Attorneys and investigators working with this project help overturn wrongfully-convicted people by use of DNA evidence. https://www.innocenceproject.org/


*Did you know? We say someone has a law 'practice' or a medical 'practice' because they are continually working to know all they can about their field. Thus, they are practicing, much as you keep practicing to learn an art or play an instrument: you're never fully done learning it.